Updates, advisories and surprises

(4:53 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Insurer Aflac Inc.
AFL, -1.20%
on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter net profits rose to $581 million, or $1.24 a share, compared with $538 million, or $1.15 a share, a year earlier. Revenues for the quarter rose 6.6% to $6.38 billion, compared with $5.98 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for per-share earnings of $1.47. The company said it expects U.S. sales to be flat to up 5% this year. Aflac shares declined 0.9% in after-hour trading.

C.H. Robinson doubles profit on acquisitions

(4:43 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Freight and shipping company C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.
CHRW, +0.53%
citing higher volumes from recent acquisitions, reported late Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose to $256.4 million, or $1.58 a share, from $109.2 million, or 67 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue for the quarter rose nearly 16% to $2.97 billion from $2.57 billion. Adjusted to exclude one-time items, the company earned 68 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet, who typically cite adjusted income, had predicted the Minneapolis, Minn.-based company would earn 70 cents a share on $2.88 billion in revenue. C.H. Robinson shares were up 7 cents at $67.08 in after-hours trade. The stock is up 4% over the past 12 months.

Disney first-quarter earnings fall 6% to $1.38 bln

(4:25 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Walt Disney Co.
DIS, -1.35%
said late Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter earnings fell at $1.38 billion, or 77 cents a share, from $1.46 billion or 80 cents a share in the year-ago period. Excluding charges, the media giant would have reported earnings of 79 cents a share. Revenue rose to $11.34 billion from $10.78 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated a quarterly profit of 76 cents a share on revenue of $11.21 billion. Whispernumber.com, which uses unpublished estimates, expected earnings of 78 cents a share.

Panera Bread posts 34% higher profit

(4:18 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Panera Bread Co.
PNRA
reported late Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 34% to $51.6 million, or $1.75 a share, from $38.6 million, or $1.31 a share a year ago. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 25 rose 15% to $571.5 million while same-store sales rose 4.9%. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected the St. Louis, Mo.-based bakery chain to post earnings of $1.74 a share on $574.6 million in revenue. Panera Bread shares rose as much as 4.4% in after-hours trade to $170.

Zynga narrows loss with big revenue beat

(4:14 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Zynga Inc. narrowed its net loss as revenues for the fourth quarter came in well ahead of Wall Street's expectations, driving the social game maker's shares up more than 5% in after-hours trades on Tuesday. For the period ended Dec. 31, Zynga
ZNGA, -1.83%
reported a net loss of $48.6 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $435 million, or $1.22 per share, in the same period last year. The company said it earned 1 cent per share on a non-GAAP basis for the recent quarter. Revenue was mostly flat at $311.2 million. Analysts were expecting an adjusted loss of 3 cents a share on revenue of $212.1 million, according to consensus estimates from FactSet.

Expedia reports 10% earnings increase

(4:13 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Online travel company Expedia Inc.
EXPE, -1.86%
on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings that rose 10% from a year ago. Expedia said that for the quarter ended Dec. 31, it earned $88.9 million, or 63 cents a share, on revenue of $975 million. During the same period a year ago, Expedia earned $80.6 million, or 58 cents a share, on $787 million in sales. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast Expedia to earn 65 cents a share on revenue of $933 million. Expedia also reported $7.53 billion in gross bookings, a 19% increase for the fourth quarter in 2011. Expedia shares rose more than 4% in after-hours trading following the release of the results.

Chipotle fourth-quarter profit rises to $61.4 mln

(4:09 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc
CMG, -1.06%
said late Tuesday that its fourth quarter earnings rose to $61.4 million, or $1.95 a share, from $57 million, or $1.81 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased to $699.2 million from $596.7 million last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated a quarterly profit of $1.96 a share on revenue of $696.3 million.

Take-Two earnings jump in third fiscal quarter

(4:05 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
TTWO, -2.60%
posted a significant jump in earnings for its third fiscal quarter on Tuesday afternoon. For the period ended Dec. 31, Take-Two reported net income of $71.4 million, or 66 cents per share, on revenue of $415.8 million. That compares with net income of $14.1 million or 16 cents a share on revenue of $236.3 million in the same period last year. Adjusted for deferred revenues from certain game sales, Take-Two said it earned 67 cents per share on revenue of $405 million for the recent period. Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of 55 cents a share on revenue of $363.9 million, according to consensus estimates from FactSet.

Estee Lauder shares rise as U.S. spending rebounds

(11:25 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Estee Lauder Cos.
EL, -0.28%
surged 5.8% on Tuesday to $64.59, the second-biggest gain on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
SPX, -1.42%
The beauty-products company said Tuesday morning its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 13% as revenue increased, boosted by a rebound in U.S. spending and sales increases in the Asia/Pacific region's emerging markets. Estee Lauder said quarterly profit rose to $447.5 million, or $1.13 cents per share, from $396.7 million, or $1 a share, in the year-ago period. It raised its 2013 profit forecast to between $2.51 and $2.59 a share.

Yum! stock skids on China chicken fallout

(10:18 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Yum! Brands Inc.
YUM, -1.63%
shares fell 3.5% on Tuesday to $61.70, the third-worst performance on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
SPX, -1.42%
The fast-food chain said late Monday its earnings fell 5.3% in the fourth quarter as a Chinese government review of poultry supplies hurt same-store sales in China. The company said it doesn't expect earnings growth this year. Yum! Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, said profit fell to $337 million, or 72 cents a share, from $356 million, or 75 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Zynga shares jump on upgrade ahead of results

(9:56 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Zynga Inc.
ZNGA, -1.83%
saw its shares jump nearly 6% to $2.70 on Tuesday morning after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to a buy rating. The move comes just ahead of the social game maker's fourth-quarter results, due after the closing bell. In his note to clients, analyst Justin Post cited "asset value and mobile stabilization" as the reason for his action, noting that the company has about $2.20 per share in cash and assets. He also noted that improving performance over the last two months on other social networking stocks such as Facebook, Groupon and Angie's List "suggest investors' risk tolerance with developing business models has increased."

Computer Sciences rises on upbeat results

(9:49 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Computer Sciences Corp.
CSC, +1.66%
shares rose more than 8% Tuesday to $45.39 after the government IT services contractor reported upbeat fiscal third-quarter results. CSC said it earned $3.27 a share on $3.78 billion in revenue, compared with a loss of $8.96 a share on sales of $3.69 billion in the same period a year. Excluding one-time items, CSC would have earned 77 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast CSC to earn 62 cents a share on $3.73 billion in revenue.

Tech stocks jump; Dell deal made official

(9:48 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks got a boost on Tuesday morning as the long-rumored privatization deal for PC giant Dell Inc.
DELL
was made official. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP, -1.84%
rose 0.3% to 3,142 while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
SOX, -1.95%
jumped 0.5%. Dell shares were halted at $13.27 after the opening bell; the deal with CEO Michael Dell and Silver Lake values the stock at $13.65. Computer Sciences Corp.
CSC, +1.66%
saw its shares jump more than 7% after the tech services firm reported better-than-expected results for the third fiscal quarter. Zynga
ZNGA, -1.83%
jumped more than 6% after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded the social game maker to a buy rating just ahead of its own quarterly results, due after the closing bell.

Sirius XM Radio profit more than doubles

(8:01 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Sirius XM Radio Inc.
SIRI, -2.16%
reported on Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $156.2 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, from $71.3 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue rose to $892.4 million from $783.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. A survey of analysts by FactSet produced consensus estimates of profit of 2 cents a share for the quarter on revenue of $899.7 million. The New York-based satellite radio provider said it expected 2013 revenue of more than $3.7 billion and total net subscriber additions of about 1.4 million in the same period. Sirius XM said it will begin its previously announced $2 billion stock repurchase program.

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